Work vehicles (including agricultural work vehicles such as tractors and combines and construction vehicles such as loader-backhoes) include a variety of output elements that perform actions on the environment around the vehicle. For example, a tractor typically includes a hitch which can be coupled to an implement such as a planter, sprayer, air drill, conventional drill, disk harrow or chisel plow. The tractor may be required to raise or lower the implement by raising or lowering the hitch to which the implement is attached, or may be required to provide power to the implement by way of a power-take-off ("PTO") shaft or by controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid through auxiliary valves.
An operator typically controls such output elements using control levers, buttons or other input devices mounted in the cab of the work vehicle. Such input devices may be located within a small physical area (or even combined onto a single input system) for easy access by the operator. Location of these input devices within the cab is necessary since many controls must be accessible by an operator when the work vehicle is moving. For example, the operator must have the ability to raise and lower the hitch of the tractor, and thus the implement, from within the cab as a tractor is moving.
There are also circumstances under which it would be appropriate to allow the operator to control an output element from a position outside of the cab when the work vehicle is stationary. For example, an operator may need to move the hitch while coupling and uncoupling an implement thereto. For another example, the operator may wish to raise the position of the hitch, and thus the implement attached thereto) to examine the underside of the implement or to retract the implement out of crops or other obstructions in which the implement has become tangled. Allowing an operator to control output elements while outside the cab (in addition to while within the cab) provides greater convenience and flexibility. In certain circumstances, control while outside the work vehicle cab may be necessary insofar as the operator may not be able to obtain a satisfactory view of a controlled output element while remaining within the cab.
Output elements may be controlled by an operator while outside of a work vehicle cab by way of control levers, buttons or other input devices located at fixed positions on the vehicle outside of the cab. For example, the hitch on a tractor may be raised and lowered using hitch raise or lower buttons located on the rear fender of the tractor. Satisfactory locations for such input devices on a work vehicle are, however, not always available outside the cab. For example, buttons located on the rear fender may be impractical for an operator if the tractor becomes so large (particularly due to large wheels) that the fender is located high off the ground. Further, input devices located outside the cab may be susceptible to inadvertent actuation (e.g., by a passing branch) and damage from environmental elements (e.g., weather conditions), may be ergonomically difficult to engineer, or may be aesthetically unappealing.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a system for allowing an operator of a work vehicle to control the functioning of an output element of the work vehicle while the operator is located outside the work vehicle's cab (in addition to inside the cab). It would also be advantageous if the system was a wireless remote control system which allows the operator to control the output elements from within a range of positions outside the cab, as opposed to only specific, fixed positions.
It would be advantageous to have a wireless remote control system having certain operator positions within the range of positions from which control of the output elements is allowed, wherein such positions are positions at which the operator can view the controlled output elements. It would further be advantageous to have a wireless remote control system that excludes certain operator positions from the range of positions from which control of the output elements is allowed.
It would also be advantageous to have a wireless remote control system that utilizes standard and (relatively) inexpensive components. It would further be advantageous to have a wireless remote control system having a compact transmitter allowing for easy transport of the input devices by the operator.